Like Popes or Roman Emperors, everyone loves the James Bond that they were born into (or at least first saw in theaters). The true fan of the franchise should be able to discern who best played the role of the international spy, or which movie was the most “James Bond-y” of them all, or which followed or challenged the formula in the most exciting ways. 2015’s Spectre, for example, followed the formula so closely it bored audiences to tears - not to mention featuring an uncomfortably questionable shower scene between Bond and Monica Bellucci’s character.
1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the sixth film in the James Bond canon and the first time an actor other than Sean Connery played the role (certainly not the last). Though On Her Majesty’s Secret Service could never be described as the best 007 movie, George Lazenby’s portrayal of the character certainly can be. As well, his decision to play the character only one time may have saved the entire series from ending as a dated 60’s British production.
Sean Connery refused to play James Bond ever again after You Only Live Twice (even though he did, technically twice). At the time, George Lazenby was a young model from Australia who had no acting experience at all. OHMSS did not do well at the box office in comparison to the previous and subsequent Bond films, earning $65 million dollars – compared to $111 million for You Only Live Twice and $116 million for Diamonds are Forever, but it did challenge the formula in an intriguing way.
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The plot is nothing remarkable. The beginning action scenes are edited in an oddly jarring way and paired with very unusual sound effects. In one fight, Bond is assaulted in a hallway by two henchmen. For some reason, there are unplaceable metal banging and pinging sounds while they are wrestling over a handgun, along with animal roaring like tigers or jaguars. There were only three guys fighting in a hallway, where were the jungle cats? Maybe it was a 60’s action movie trend? Also, Blofeld’s evil scheme was typically preposterous. On the positive, the characterization of James Bond by Lazenby and the film’s ending are the two noteworthy achievements.
George Lazenby is the best James Bond - especially if viewed under the lens of the “James Bond as a Codename Theory.” The theory states that the reason why James Bond has lived for so long and has looked so different in each of his adventures is that the name “James Bond” is a codename attributed to the agent of 007 rank. It is a wild internet theory, but it serves a fun purpose.
For Lazenby, he plays a different character than the other Bonds. He does have the hallmark Bond traits; he is a lady killer, he is a sophisticated dresser, he is no stranger to combat and danger. He most definitely holds the same grudge against Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the rest of the Bonds. Yet he never uses gadgets the way the other Bonds do, and he is a gentler, more vulnerable man. When he is chased through the village in the Swiss Alps, he is afraid. He hides in the crowd on the ice rink because he is outnumbered. Other Bonds would have charged headlong toward the squad of armed henchmen or figured out a way to crowd control using an explosive or a net sprung from the front of their shoe or something. He also sincerely falls in love with Tracy Draco - and marries her. That is something never done before or since in a James Bond film.
Tracy Draco is the daughter of a Mafia boss. Strangely, Bond becomes friends with the gangster Don Marc-Ange Draco, who offers Bond key information on Blofeld in exchange for marrying his daughter. Bond agrees and he follows through with it! Again, maybe it was a 60’s thing to treat Mafia crime bosses as respectable characters, ignoring the fact that the guy is truly a murderer. So, MI6 makes deals with gangsters now? That’s weird.
Anyway, the romance between Bond and Tracy becomes real and legitimate. After Bond rescues her from Blofeld’s captivity, the two have a nice wedding. Don Draco personally meets M and the two exchange jokes about killing each other’s agents. Again, it is a very weird connection. The final scene of the film has Bond and his bride driving through the countryside, only to be attacked in a drive-by shooting by Blofeld and his henchwoman Irma Bunt. Bond is okay, but Tracy is assassinated. The movie ends with Bond denying she is dead, holding her, quietly weeping. That is very much against the cinematic formula of James Bond, which is exactly what makes it so intriguing, and exactly why Lazenby was the only guy who could pull it off.
By OHMSS, the James Bond franchise established itself as an action spy thriller primarily built around Sean Connery. To a lot of critics, the creative bank had started to fizzle out by the time You Only Live Twice hit theatres. When Sean Connery resigned as the lead character, there was a very real chance it would be the end of James Bond entirely.
Thankfully, the producers gave it one more swing, albeit with Lazenby as the lead, before hanging up the towel. At the time, many people felt On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the final Bond film. Adding to this that George Lazenby himself only agreed to make one film rather than a contract heralded a possible death knell for the character. Perhaps the fact that it did not do as well as the Sean Connery run, or perhaps because critics disliked Lazenby as Bond, the producers were challenged to do better.
To spite Lazenby’s one-and-done assignment, they sought out a new Bond…and instead landed on rehiring Sean Connery for a heap more money. Connery brought back the Bond everyone was used to and reinvigorated the franchise. Having a new face in between Connery also opened the doors for future new actors such as Roger Moore in Live and Let Die after Connery’s Diamonds Are Forever. George Lazenby proved that James Bond was not Sean Connery.
James Bond will next be seen in the upcoming No Time To Die, hopefully this Fall.
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